World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 6/10/2001
From:
Matches:
1.) Steve Blackman defeated Justin Credible
2.) Crash Holly defeated Funaki
3.) Christian defeated Raven
4.) WWF European Champion Matt Hardy defeated Billy Gunn to retain the title
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Blackman gets headlock control to start the match and shoulder blocks Credible. Credible avoids a kick, but Blackman delivers a few chops. Credible hammers away on Blackman in the corner followed by a chop. Blackman responds with a few chops in the corner. Blackman sends Credible into the corner and kicks Credible off the apron to the floor onto the railing. Blackman continues with chops around ringside. Blackman drops Credible gut first onto the ring steps from the apron. Blackman rolls Credible into the ring and climbs to the top rope hitting a missile dropkick for a two count. Credible elbows Blackman in the corner and hits a middle rope bulldog for a near fall. Credible works over Blackman in the corner with stomps and a powerbomb for a two count. Credible keeps Blackman on the mat with a sleeper, but Blackman doesn’t give in. Blackman elbows free and gets a two count with a sunset flip. Credible regains control with a clothesline. Credible tries for a backdrop, but Blackman avoids it and delivers a kick. Blackman strikes Credible and drives Credible to the mat face first. Blackman throat thrusts Credible and hits a belly to belly suplex for a two count. Blackman almost collides with the referee in the corner and Credible hits a superkick for a near fall. Blackman nails Credible with a pump kick and wins the match. (**. The crowd loves Steve Blackman. Blackman has found some charisma and it matches his badass offense. Meanwhile, Credible seems lost and isn’t the same guy that he was in ECW. This was a decent match with Blackman entertaining me mostly.)
2.) Holly attacks Funaki from behind with a few strikes. Funaki ducks a clothesline and head scissors Holly followed by a drop toe hold. Funaki dropkicks a kneeling Holly and plays to the crowd. Holly avoids a suplex attempt and drops Funaki gut first over the ropes. Holly decks Funaki off the apron to the floor. Holly taunts Taka on the floor and stomps Funaki leading to a two count. Holly rams Funaki into the corner a few times. Funaki rams Holly into the corner, but misses a spear and hits the ring post shoulder first and crashes to the floor. Holly decks Funaki into the ring for a two count. Holly decks Funaki over the back and a forearm to the lower back. Holly slams Funaki to the mat and heads to the top rope. Funaki dropkicks Holly in midair coming off the top rope. Holly and Funaki trade strikes in the middle of the ring with Funaki getting control. Holly misses a splash and Funaki hits a bulldog out of the corner. Holly gets a rollup on Funaki with a handful of tights, but the referee saw the cheating. Funaki almost wins with a backslide. Funaki dropkicks Holly into the corner and hits a back suplex for a near fall. Holly boots Funaki i the corner and uses the ropes for leverage to win the match. After the match, Holly decks Taka on the floor. (*1/2. Probably would have been better if they did some lightweight stuff, but it was a filler undercard match instead.)
3.) Mick Foley is the special guest at WWF New York and he finds Mr. Socko before heading to the stage.
4.) Mick Foley is on the stage to talk to the crowd. Foley says he wasn’t honest with the fans last month on RAW. Foley shows footage from last month where he promoted his book, Foley Is Good. Foley says that his book is the perfect Father’s Day gift. Foley says that the success of the show is based on ratings. Foley can’t believe that Kaientai’s week of hosting Heat got great ratings and if he can’t beat that he’ll watch Test videos all night.
5.) Raven and Christian lockup until Christian backs Raven into a corner and delivers a cheap shot. Raven kicks Christian to avoid a backdrop and clotheslines himself and Christian over the top to the floor. Raven hits a side Russian leg sweep into the barricade. Raven rolls Christian into the ring, but Christian recovers to deliver a few strikes. Raven fires back with right hands in the corner. Christian misses a clothesline and Raven nails Christian with a clothesline for a two count. Christian sends Raven through the ropes to the floor. Christian drop toe holds Raven face first into the ring steps. Christian sends Raven into the barricade chest first before returning to the ring. Christian chokes Raven on the mat. Christian stomps on Raven in the corner and locks in a chin lock. Christian chokes Raven in the corner, but Raven fights back with strikes. Christian stops Raven with a backbreaker and a kick to the back. Christian clotheslines a seated Raven for a two count. Christian leaps off the middle rope to nail Raven with a dropkick. Christian misses another dropkick and Raven catapults Christian into the corner chest first. Raven pummels Christian in the corner and hits a slow clothesline out of the corner. Raven follows up with a knee lift followed by a clothesline in the corner. Christian shoves Raven off to avoid a bulldog, but Raven hits a bulldog anyway for a two count. Christian rams Raven into the corner and misses a top rope crossbody. Raven gets a rollup for a near fall. Raven gets an inside cradle for a near fall. Christian tries for the Un-Prettier, but Raven counters looking for the DDT. Christian breaks free and goes to the corner where Christian takes Raven down and uses the ropes for leverage to win the match. (*. This was a massively disappointing match. The crowd was mostly dead for the action. I feel as if both men are heels and the crowd didn’t know how to react to that. Raven, to my knowledge, has never officially turned face or anything. Their styles didn’t seem to mesh very well, and the finish was not good.)
6.) Michael Cole and Tazz chat with Mick Foley on the stage at WWF New York. They mostly just talk about the book that Foley wrote, Foley Is Good.
7.) Backstage, Lita is getting catering when Billy Gunn approaches and says he’s looking forward to his match with Matt Hardy for the WWF European Championship. Billy appears to be fake nice after Lita walked off.
8.) Gunn backs Hardy into a corner, but cleanly backs off. Hardy almost wins with a rollup and arm drags Gunn to the mat to keep arm control. Gunn backs Hardy into a corner and delivers a few strikes. Gunn tries for a hip toss, but Hardy blocks it and ducks a clothesline. Hardy arm drags Gunn a few times and Gunn bails to the floor to regroup. Gunn pulls Hardy to the floor and delivers a clothesline. Gunn rams Hardy face first into the ring steps before returning to the ring. Gunn rams Hardy into the corner and continues with strikes. Gunn sends Hardy chest first into the corner and hits a leaping neckbreaker for a near fall. Gunn tries to cover Hardy a few times, but Hardy kicks out each time. Gunn sends Hardy into the corner and hits a press slam followed by a few elbow drops for a two count. Gunn continues to pummel Hardy in the corner with strikes. Gunn misses a clothesline and Hardy hits a tornado DDT. Hardy kicks Gunn, but Gunn backdrops Hardy only for Hardy to get a near fall on a rollup. Gunn gets out of a backslide and decks Hardy. Gunn misses a splash in the corner. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate for the clean win. After the match, Gunn is visibly frustrated and slap hands with Hardy. Well, that’s short-lived because Gunn plants Hardy with the One and Only cobra clutch slam. (**. The apparent heel turn made up for the action prior to it. I was expecting something during the match, but Gunn losing and then turning makes sense. I’m not sure how far this will go because a heel turn on Heat is either going to be forgotten about, or will be a poor run.)
9.) Mick Foley returns to the stage at WWF New York and says he wanted the title Foley Is Good Looking, but didn’t get it. Foley puts over WWF New York and thinks this is the highest rated program of Heat ever.
Final Thoughts:
A couple of solid matches and a potential heel turn by Billy Gunn makes this a decent overall episode of Heat. Any time there’s actual substance to Heat I’m going to approve and appreciate it.
Thanks for reading.